The “Baños” communal bank consists of 14 women from Baños parish in Cuenca. This is an area of lush vegetation and thermal springs that give rise to several resorts. Its cuisine is very typical and very varied. Its residents still keep their culture and traditions alive.

One of the group members is Teresa who is taking out her third loan alongside her friends and Baños group companions. She likes this way of getting loans because she meets with her friends and fellow members at each meeting to share good times while at the same time they strengthen their bonds of friendship and companionship.

Teresa is 41-years-old, married for 15 years and mother of two children who are 11 and 6 years old attending the local school. Her husband works in an upholstery shop he owns and the house they live in is not their own.

Teresa works selling cosmetics and clothes via catalog. She stared this at first helping her sister-in-law sell and realized it was a good way to earn household income. Now, she spends five hours daily in the business selling her merchandise throughout the city.

She will use the loan to buy cosmetics and clothes that are on sale to expand her sales. Her dream is to own a house.

The two small photos are of members who were unable to be present when the group photo was taken.

Additional Information

This is a Group Loan

In a group loan, each member of the group receives an individual loan but is part of a larger group of individuals. The group is there to provide support to the members and to provide a system of peer pressure, but groups may or may not be formally bound by a group guarantee. In cases where there is a group guarantee, members of the group are responsible for paying back the loans of their fellow group members in the case of delinquency or default.

Kiva's Field Partners typically feature one borrower from a group. The loan description, sector, and other attributes for a group loan profile are determined by the featured borrower's loan. The other members of the group are not required to use their loans for the same purpose.